Closing the Gap
by Hikari Kaitou
Summary: Gakuen!AU. As he and Sweden struggle through their weekly study session together in awkward silence, Finland wishes he had the courage cuddle up against Sweden the way he longs to do. Luckily fate decides to lend him a helping hand. Pre!SwedenxFinland


**A/N**: An old kink meme deanon. Enjoy!

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Ever since he and Sweden had begun meeting Thursdays after school three months ago, Thursday afternoons had become one of Finland's favorite day and time of the week. Even if the purpose of their meeting was to do homework, Finland found himself looking forward to that time when Sweden would come over to his place and the two of them would sit side by side (though, to Finland's chagrin, always with a timid space between them) on his sofa and work together, usually in companionable silence.

Their little study sessions hadn't yet grown as cozy as he had envisioned when he'd proposed them, but they were slowly growing more comfortable with each other. When they'd first started meeting for these study sessions, they had been sitting on nearly opposite sides of the couch from each other, and now they had whittled that distance down to a mere two inches. Perhaps next week, he'd finally be able to fit himself right up against Sweden, and the week after that maybe he'd work up the courage to climb into Sweden's lap. His chest ached with longing as he imagined himself snuggling into Sweden's warm embrace and feeling a warm kiss pressed to the top of his head in return.

The Finnish boy couldn't help being frustrated with himself. He'd cared for Sweden for quite a while now, but somehow he couldn't bring himself to put these feelings into words. There was no question that Sweden cared for him too; he simply wasn't sure how far those sentiments went. Sometimes Sweden said such sweet things to him and when Finland could bring himself to meet the other boy's intense gaze, he was sure that Sweden was blushing. But perhaps that was only his wishful thinking and Sweden considered him only a friend. Finland was too inexperienced in this area to be able to tell with certainty.

Finland sighed softly, lowering the novel he was supposed to be reading for his literature class to stare wistfully at the gap between him and Sweden. Well, that was what he'd intended to do, but the gap was suddenly missing. He had turned his head just in time for Sweden's hair to brush past his nose as his head nodded towards Finland's shoulder. Finland froze.

"S-Sve…?" he squeaked.

Sweden's breath caught softly and his head jerked upright again at the sound of Finland's voice.

"Sorry," Sweden mumbled, his cheeks going undeniably red as he rubbed his eyes beneath his glasses in a way that tugged fiercely on Finland's heartstrings.

"Are you sleepy?" he asked. "I thought it looked like there were bags under your eyes when you came in…"

"Haven't been sleepin' well lately fer some reason," Sweden replied.

"Are you stressed about something?" Finland suggested.

Sweden frowned faintly, glancing furtively in his direction but not meeting Finland's eyes. "Hmm..."

Finland took this to mean that Sweden didn't really want to talk about what was bothering him, but he wanted to show that he was there for Sweden if he needed him. He reached out and touched Sweden's hand hesitantly. Sweden started again, lifting his gaze to meet Finland's at last, his cheeks still red. Finland wasn't sure how to interpret this expression and began to draw his hand away, fearing that he'd upset Sweden somehow, but Sweden caught his fingertips and squeezed them gently, reassuringly. Finland felt his heart skip a beat.

"If you're tired, maybe we could take a nap together," he said breathlessly before he could even consider stopping himself.

Sweden's face was usually difficult to read, but there was no mistaking the surprise written on it now. Finland's cheeks went red.

"Of course, you don't have to if you don't want to!" he blurted. "That was kind of a strange thing to say, wasn't it? I don't know what I was thinking. I'm sorry."

"'D like that," Sweden said softly.

"H-huh?" Finland stammered.

"Y' know… takin' a nap t'gether." Sweden was blushing almost as hard as Finland was. He was definitely not imagining it this time.

"Oh! Um… y-yes, of course! If you really want to, I mean… I never thought… I couldn't have imagined that… Ah, I'm not sure what I want to say, but..." Finland took a deep breath, forcing himself not to babble anymore the way he was prone to do when he was nervous. "Anyway, w-we can use my bed if you like."

Sweden's head bobbed in shy agreement. Finland gave him a coy smile before leading him to his room. The two of them removed their school blazers, ties, and belts, draping them carefully over the back of Finland's chair. Finland took a deep, calming breath before climbing into bed. Sweden paused to remove his glasses and tuck them in the pocket of his blazer, then followed shortly after, making himself comfortable at Finland's side.

The two of them laid there, stock still, stiff as boards, and awkwardly silent. Finland was starting to wonder if perhaps this hadn't been such a good idea after all when Sweden touched his side lightly, causing him to feel as though his heart had suddenly stopped beating.

"C'n I…?" he trailed off, indicating with his gentle pressure on Finland's side that he wanted to pull him close.

"Y-yes," Finland breathed.

Sweden curled his arms around him and drew him in, resting his hotly flushed cheek against Finland's chest. Finland slowly released the breath he'd been holding as he adjusted to his long-time wish for closeness suddenly having been granted. Sweden was every bit as warm and cuddly as he'd been in Finland's fantasies.

"Feels better," Sweden murmured, "havin' y' close like this."

"I'm glad I could help," Finland replied, his head swimming slightly with simultaneous joy and nerves.

Sweden hugged him a bit closer, nuzzling Finland experimentally. Finland's heart fluttered wildly in his chest, and it felt as though it were beating so loudly that he was sure Sweden could hear it. But at the moment he couldn't bring himself to care so much about that, not when Sweden was being so unmistakably and openly affectionate with him.

Finland wrapped his arms lightly around Sweden's shoulders and rested his cheek against the top of Sweden's head. Sweden's hair was surprisingly soft and smelled pleasantly of styling products. He ran his fingers through it slowly, reverently, tracing the golden strands down the side of Sweden's cheek. Finland smiled softly as he saw his friend's eyelids drift closed, seemingly with enjoyment.

He sighed, beginning to relax slowly as he continued to stroke Sweden's hair. It had taken Finland a long time to be able to see past Sweden's deceptively cold-looking visage to see the kind and gentle and surprisingly shy person behind it, and even now there were times when Finland had difficulty meeting his intense gaze. But now that Sweden was snuggled in his embrace, glasses set aside, eyes closed and cheeks pleasantly pink, his usual intimidating aura seemed to melt away to reveal his true nature. The more Finland watched Sweden's vulnerable face, the more he longed to kiss him.

No words passed between them for a long time. Finland simply held Sweden in silence, stroking his hair and cheek tenderly. Judging by the taller boy's slow, deep breathing, Finland was pretty sure that Sweden had drifted off.

"Sve? Are you asleep?" Finland asked quietly.

Sweden didn't reply. Finland smiled.

"I guess I'll wait until you wake up, then," he breathed, "to tell you that I love you."

The color rose in Finland's cheeks again as he bowed his head and touched a tiny kiss to Sweden's temple.

"Sleep well," he whispered, rubbing Sweden's back affectionately.

With that confession temporarily off of his chest, Finland relaxed back on his pillow and let his eyes slip closed.

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**A/N: **I have a poll on my profile page concerning my next possible multi-chapter story. The "vote now" button is lurking at the top of the profile page, just under my user name but above my icon. If you guys could take a moment to vote on what kind of content you'd like to see, I'd really appreciate it!


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